Though I've seen some remarks on this forum alluding to discussions about FK's popularity, I've yet to find any of the actual discussion itself. I'm quite curious about such a discussion, because there are two things about prog that I can't for the life of me figure out:

1) Why (judging by the amount of airtime and by online reviews) are the Flower Kings so popular?

2) Why is it that I cannot *stand* listening to their music?

I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's that they're the musical equivalent of Frankenstein's monster to me: Sewn together from corpses under the motto "more is better", resulting in a patchwork creature of mammoth proportions, intended by its creator to be beautiful, yet causing unsuspecting bystanders to flee in terror.

Personally I like the Flower Kings (most of the time), but to each his own. To answer your questions:

1) Solid musicianship, stylistic connection to the 70's bands that introduced most people to prog combined with some more modern elements, and catchy melodies on a lot of their songs (though the last seems to be missing on some of their recent albums).

the day the ears went fly. First class laugh, eh klaxon. ...tooooot....

havering from leaf to another, leaving no fir unturned, gathering confidence and from now on connoisseurship. Try this without a trusted person.An incredible creation and no-one with 'chare-is-magick' air and flair.